The climate crisis isn’t looming on the horizon—it’s knocking on our front door. We are living in an era where the ramifications of our actions have never been more pronounced. But as we rush to respond to this crisis, a critical question looms – who foots the bill?

Mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change will undeniably require a huge investment. Between now and 2050, governments worldwide, and the private sector, are expected to need $131 trillion in investments for energy transition. For India alone, our investments towards a low-carbon transition and building climate-resilient infrastructure are estimated to be in the range of $7.2 trillion to $12.1 trillion by 2050. The key question is, should India (and by extension other countries of the developing world with lower emissions per capita) be the ones paying for this transition?

For starters, it is important the developed countries stay true to their word and commitments made at COP 15 in 2009 (UNFCCC, Copenhagen), and provide the promised funding towards decarbonisation. The discrepancy, lack of transparency or just plain non-disbursement of funds from the developed countries to support developing countries’ transition to low carbon growth pathways is glaring in its omission. Commitments were made decades ago but the flow of funds is a mere trickle, which is not due to a lack of capital, but low priority accorded to decarbonisation. To expect a short-term bulk commitment is naïve, but payments in tranches – to be made against achieving milestones are required to ensure accountability and c